The present invention relates to methods to degrade biomass or sludge. The present invention further relates to compositions used to degrade biomass or sludge.
The manufacture of paper involves blending, in water, a pulp material (generally wood fiber) with fillers, such as clay, and other additives to create a stock slurry mixture referred to herein as a pulp. The pulp is then processed through a papermaking machine to form a sheet. The water is then extracted from the sheet and the sheet is then pressed and dried, thereby forming a paper product. The drained water contains an amount of fiber and filler material. This material is collected for later processing, however, the recovery is usually not complete. Discarded material and material not captured for reuse are generally transported to a waste treatment facility where still-remaining solids, e.g., the fibers and filler materials, are removed. The cleaned water is discharged back into the environment or communicated back to the papermaking process for reuse. After dewatering, the solids are contained in a concentrated, typically 40%-60% solids, papermaking sludge. The main components of this sludge are fibers and clay filler material. This sludge is usually disposed of by burying in landfills, landspreading, or incinerating. Some papermaking processes recycle papermaking sludge, however, this has been found to adversely affect sizing and cause size reversion.
The problem with burying the sludge in landfills is that this creates, in some localties, environmental issues. Further, the cost of hauling away the sludge can be quite expensive. In addition, the sludge, if not treated properly, can create odor problems in the vicinity where the sludge is located and shipped to.
Besides sludge from paper and pulp manufacturing, biomass created from various processes (for instance, plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) have similar problems.
While there have been attempts to treat the sludge or biomass using various compositions and processing techniques, there is still a need in the industry to provide processes that work more predictably, cheaply, and/or at a faster rate than current techniques.